Greek: Ancient & Modern

A reader writes:

I’ve made a strong commitment to learn to read and write New Testament(Koine) Greek.  I also want to learn to speak Modern Greek because it seems that is the most useful to know of the variations.

What I’m unsure about is if I can learn to read Koine Greek but learn to speak Modern Greek without there being a conflict of understanding.

I’m willing to work very hard and desire learn as quick as possible, but don’t I know the best methods to learn.  How would you suggest to go about learning to read Koine Greek and speaking Modern Greek, assuming that they don’t conflict in that way.

Anything else that you think I would need to know please let me know.  I know you’re very busy and would greatly appreciate your help in this matter.  Thank you so much.

My standard recommend for learning New Testament Greek is Bill Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek (including the workbook). Best set out there. Lots of good ancillary study materials in the same line of books. Only major flaw is Mounce is too heavy on morphology.

For starting to learn Modern Greek, I recommend Pimsleur’s Greek set. (I only say starting because they only have 30 lessons in Modern Greek, so you have to switch to something else after that, but it’s still the best way to start studying it.)

Thing is, though: I wouldn’t recommend learning them at the same time. There are significant differences between the two dialects. Not only is the pronunciation quite different, the grammar is different, too. For example, modern Greek has no dative case (except in a few isolated expressions).

Learning one dialect will help you learn the other, but only in sequence. Try to learn both at once and it’ll be too confusing.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

6 thoughts on “Greek: Ancient & Modern”

  1. Classical Greek as taught in universities is fairly close to Koine Greek. I recall that in one class there was a student who was Greek, a native speaker of Modern Greek as a child. She could not stand the “funny sound” of Classical Greek and eventually dropped the class. The two dialects really sound quite different, I would even say as different as Cantonese Chinese and Mandarin Chinese.
    For a sample of Modern Greek, try BBC Greek. You can listen to the newscast in Modern Greek over the internet. To my ear, it sounds closer to Italian than Classical or Koine Greek.
    MP3 files of the Greek New Testament with are available at CCEL. This sounds about like what you hear in a Classical or Biblical Greek class; very different from Modern Greek.

  2. I would like to know, in the Greek New Testament found at http://www.amgpublishers.com/images/Books/GreekNewTestament_smn.jpg , which Greek language is represented on the “left page” and which Greek language is represented on the “right page”? No matter where you open this book, the left side is always one language, and the right side is always the other. It’s a comparative NT, I’ve figured that much out. One side is Koine Greek and the other side is Modern Greek, but I don’t know which is which. (I figured that much out by doing a ton of internet searches on the subject.) I’m very new to all of this and am just trying to figure some basic things out. Thanks in advance for your help.

  3. CD,
    Simple: find a copy of the koine Greek NT on the Internet, pick a book and chapter, and compare it to the the beginning of said chapter in your book. The side which is exactly like, or almost exactly like, the one on the net will be the Biblical Greek side and the other, which should be quite different, will be modern Greek. Here is a copy of the Greek New Testament you could try. Since it uses graphics to represent Greek characters, you won’t need to install any special fonts.

  4. I agree that Mounce’s book is the best way to start learning Koine Greek. I was able to learn Koine Greek using this book, together with an interlinear Greek-English NT. I did not use his CD extensively,however, as the pronunciation of academic Greek is nothing like Modern Greek. On the other hands, his lectures would be useful if you find you need something besides a book for learning. For pronunciation, I found a website which provides audio readings of the Koine Greek NT in modern Greek. This site is hosted by John Simon, from Austin, Texax, and includes recordings of the NT in Modern Greek (http://www.greeklatinaudio.com). I listen to this version in order to make contact with the modern world. Also, now that I am fairly well-versed in Koine Greek, it is easy to study modern Greek, as I can now tell what the important differences are. I agree that learning both together might be confusing. Once you are proficient in Koine Greek, It is also useful in learning modern Greekto get a bible in Modern Greek (http://www.thebiblesource.com/product.php?p=568) which helps in illustrating the differences between Koine and Modern Greek. Good luck, I am having a total blast reading the NT in Greek, and listening to it in modern Greek.

  5. I agree that Mounce’s book is the best way to start learning Koine Greek. I was able to learn Koine Greek using this book, together with an interlinear Greek-English NT. I did not use his CD extensively,however, as the pronunciation of academic Greek is nothing like Modern Greek. On the other hands, his lectures would be useful if you find you need something besides a book for learning. For pronunciation, I found a website which provides audio readings of the Koine Greek NT in modern Greek. This site is hosted by John Simon, from Austin, Texax, and includes recordings of the NT in Modern Greek (http://www.greeklatinaudio.com). I listen to this version in order to make contact with the modern world. Also, now that I am fairly well-versed in Koine Greek, it is easy to study modern Greek, as I can now tell what the important differences are. I agree that learning both together might be confusing. Once you are proficient in Koine Greek, It is also useful in learning modern Greekto get a bible in Modern Greek (http://www.thebiblesource.com/product.php?p=568) which helps in illustrating the differences between Koine and Modern Greek. Good luck, I am having a total blast reading the NT in Greek, and listening to it in modern Greek.

  6. Dear Sir
    I would be very greatfull if you could please help me I am debating Colossians 1:15,16 with Jehovah’s witnesses,they say that it is to be
    taken in the “locative” sense and that “en” is “locative” and with the
    dative and is rendered “by means of” yet I wrote to Greek scholar Robert
    Strivens who says that “en” is to be rendered “by” in this scripture.
    They also insist that “Prototokos” is partitive genitive and that Jesus
    is part of creation even though pases ktiseos is sub genitive and
    Christ is over creation.
    The witnesses also say that “panta” is different from “all creation”
    and that the word “other” is justified by being placed into the text to
    read “all (other)”.
    I would be very greatfull if you could offer me a full detailed
    explanation into the Greek grammar and syntex of Colossians 1:15,16 and why
    the postition that the Jehovah’s witnesses take are wrong.
    Thank you
    Andrew Pike

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